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Chappell, A. T., & Lanza-Kaduce, L. (2010). Police academy socialization: Understanding the lessons learned in a paramilitary-bureaucratic organization. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 39(2), 187–214.

Abstract: Even as community policing has emerged as the dominant paradigm, research indicates that police agencies continue to be highly militaristic and bureaucratic in structure and culture. This article reports findings from an observational study of recruit training at a police academy that had introduced a new curriculum emphasizing community policing and problem solving. The article explores the socialization that takes place there to see how the tension between traditional and community policing is resolved. The authors found that despite the philosophical emphasis on community policing and its themes of decentralization and flexibility, the most salient lessons learned in police training were those that reinforced the paramilitary structure and culture.

Questions to Consider:

1. Recently, practitioners and scholars have argued that police academy training may be the initial source of attitudes and behaviors that contribute to police–community tensions. Based on the research by Chappell and Lanza-Kaduce, do you think the paramilitary nature of the training academy may be detrimental to police–community relations? Why, or why not? Would ridding the academy of the boot camp–like model help or hurt the overall quality of policing?
    

Ford, R. E. (2003). Saying one thing, meaning another: The role of parables in police training. Police Quarterly, 6(1), 84–110.

Abstract: Research suggests that police recruits come to policing with high ideals and positive ethical standards. Yet as early as the police academy, subtle shifts in recruit attitudes and values occur. By the end of the rookie year, this ethical value shift is almost complete, and it has negative ethical implications. This ethical value shift places many officers in conflict with a number of legal standards and core societal values. Although research has identified these outcomes, there is only limited understanding of the processes that fuel these ethical value shifts. This article presents exploratory research in police socialization processes and identifies process mechanisms that trigger a number of these value shifts. Structural elements in policing training that sustain these mechanisms are analyzed.

Questions to Consider:

1. According to the author, “Media tales take rare events and magnify and describe heroic stories as the everyday grist of police work” (p. 87). Do war stories do the same thing? Are these stories descriptions of the routine incidents of police work, or do they serve to emphasize extreme or rare encounters? Explain.
    

White, M. D. (2008). Identifying good cops early: Predicting recruit performance in the academy. Police Quarterly, 11(1), 27–49.

Abstract: Police departments have traditionally assessed their performance through crime-related activity measures that often have little to do with good police work and offer little hope for prediction of exemplary performance. This article suggests some progress can be made in predicting superior performance by considering an earlier stage in a police officer’s career where performance is well-defined and measurable: the police academy. Using recruit performance data (n = 1,556) from a large metropolitan police department, the article uses linear and logistic regression, as well as Chi-square Automatic Indicator Detector (CHIAD), to identify predictors of superior performance in the academy. A number of interesting findings emerge with regard to factors that offer predictive value—reading level, age, gender, and race—and those that do not—college education, military experience, and residency. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for recruitment, selection, and training, as well as for measuring and predicting performance on the street.

Questions to Consider:

1. According to the research study, higher reading levels were associated with higher overall performance on classroom-based evaluations. Do you believe that reading level would be equally important in predicting recruit performance outside of class, in areas such as defensive driving and firearm proficiency? Explain.